# Major typos in print **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2000, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704 "2000-12-21T15:41:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2001, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704/61 "2001-01-03T16:14:46Z")
The Sea of Gallilee (in northern Israel) is a beautiful place, especially during the spring and autumn, when it’s not to hot. However, late every afternoon, a strong breeze comes in from the Mediterranian, blowing down tents and freezing bathers. Thoughtfully, the city of Tiberius put up signs warning tourists of this well known phenomenon. Good intentions, however, do not always lead to good results, and thus there is at least one beach-side sign stating, and I quote: **BEWARE OF WESTERN WIMPS** 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2001, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704/62 "2001-01-03T17:07:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ThisYearsGirl \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by ladybug \* > > \*\* > > I think the worst one was made by the sports department. There was an article about a game at Slippery Rocks High School. Three guesses what “Rocks” got changed to in the headline. 😃 \*\* > > I cannot figure this one out to save my life. . . help, please. \*\* I think the R in Rocks was replaced by a C, maybe. Right before Thanksgiving, I saw several posters advertising “Cajun Fried Turkey’s”. What is so special about that damn apostrophe, that everyone (present company excepted, of course!) adds one to every plural? ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2001, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704/63 "2001-01-03T21:50:34Z")
:::waving hand wildy::: [Arnold Horshack voice] Ooh! Oooh! Oooh! Oooh! [/Arnold Horshack voice] This week’s _Newsweek_, the one with Oprah on the cover. There is a picture of Oprah with author Wally Lamb, passing out copies of one of his books. The caption says they are passing out copies of _“She’s Come Undone”_ but you can clearly see it is actually _“I Know This Much Is True”_ that they are distributing. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704/64 "2001-01-04T01:20:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LC Strawhouse \* > \*\*“the land of dykes and windmills.” Uh… shouldn’t that be “dikes”? \*\* Actually, according to my dictionary the two spellings are equivalent. Both can mean “ditch” or “lesbian.” ---
**Author:** ![ThisYearsGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThisYearsGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisYearsGirl)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704/65 "2001-01-04T02:14:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dolores Claiborne \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by ThisYearsGirl \* > > \*\* > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > \*Originally posted by ladybug \* > > > \*\* > > > I think the worst one was made by the sports department. There was an article about a game at Slippery Rocks High School. Three guesses what “Rocks” got changed to in the headline. 😃 \*\* > > > > I cannot figure this one out to save my life. . . help, please. \*\* > > I think the R in Rocks was replaced by a C, maybe. > > \*\* My God, that’s obvious. Thanks for pointing it out, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![aschrott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aca169/32.png) [@aschrott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aschrott)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704/66 "2001-01-04T04:52:16Z")
1)The other day I was reading the booklet notes of a new CD collection of violin music by Nicoló Paganini. In one instance his name appeared as **“Faganini”.** 2)My company distributed a flyer advertising open positions for copy editors. It said: **“…help to make sure that our written content reads as good as possible.”** It wasn’t a joke–I asked (and felt pretty awkward for asking after my boss didn’t seem to get the point). 3)_Scientific American_, and I think a couple of other magazines, ran an ad in the pre-christmas season that included a well-known christmas carol written out on staff paper (I can’t remember which carol at the moment). It had wrong notes, an incorrect key signature, and other obvious notational mistakes. Why is it that people always treat written music with “artistic” (i.e. ignorant) license on posters, cards, etc., when they are usually so careful with words? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704/67 "2001-01-04T14:23:06Z")
In the _Sarasota (Florida) Herald-Tribune_ in late 1973, there was an article about euthanasia. Throughout the article, it was spelled “youth in Asia.” ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704/68 "2001-01-04T15:08:45Z")
[screeching halt] > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by aschrott \* > \*\*…Why is it that people always treat written music with “artistic” (i.e. ignorant) license on posters, cards, etc., when they are usually so careful with words? \*\* Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhh! You have pointed out another of my many pet peeves! Especially when the quarter and eighth notes are not filled in, and the flags and beams are on the wrong sides of the stems, and the chromatics are _behind_ the notes instead of in front of them, and the beats per measure are _way_ too many for the time signature, and the notes shown don’t even match up with the key signature, fergawdssakes! ::takes deep breath:: We now return you to your regular rant. ::goes off to mangle something:: [/screeching halt] ---
**Author:** ![ReservoirDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@ReservoirDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReservoirDog)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704/69 "2001-01-04T16:49:44Z")
Not technically a typo – rather an unfortunate juxtaposition. Back in late September you’ll recall that RU-486 pill was approved. Also, the Olympic games were going on that week, and Marion Jones was going for her five gold medals. One of the local papers in Chicago ran side by side headlines on the front page: ABORTION PILL APPROVED - - MARION TAKES TWO ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704/70 "2001-01-04T17:32:34Z")
I guess this sort of counts. I have a friend who is into the custom Japanese car scene. A friend of his does custom paint for these cars, including painting Japanese characters on them. The only trouble is, he doesn’t understand Japanese and, except for a few standards like “tiger” or “dragon”, just makes up symbols that look good to him. So basically most of his work is gibberish. This kind of thing seems to be common. My girlfriend (who is from China) enjoys pointing out things like that. It seems like shirts especially get it wrong. Most of the time, they are real words but make no sense. She says it’s like someone flipped through a dictionary and picked words at random. ---
**Author:** ![scottws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@scottws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scottws)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704/71 "2001-01-04T19:22:04Z")
Saw an ad in the Eureka Springs (Arkansas) Times-Echo - a commerical building for rent that said “Commercial Frontage With Great Excrement.” Not sure what they meant - unless the last tenant just left all his shit there. ---
**Author:** ![Hokienautic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@Hokienautic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokienautic)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704/72 "2001-01-04T21:40:55Z")
I think we have a winner – from yesterday’s Washington Post: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14573-2001Jan3.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14573-2001Jan3.html) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Teeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Dr.Teeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Teeth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704/73 "2001-01-04T22:50:56Z")
I was driving by a local elementary school about a year ago when I saw a large, professionally printed sign that made me stop and gawk in disbelief. I even came back and took a picture so I could share the irony with my college English students (even though we spend very little class time discussing grammar; I expect them to know it already). The sign read “Recipient’s of Outstanding Educators Award.” I weep for the future. Also, it sounds like our local paper is a lot like many of yours; grammatical and spelling errors are a way of life. Just to pull a random example from the overflowing cornucopia of errors, we find this recent headline: “Residents Make Due with Limited Budget.” ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704/74 "2001-01-05T18:40:32Z")
I just came across this one as I was looking for info about Road Runner service: > [@](#): > > Professional installation & personal service from experienced & friendly Road Runner customer service representative’s and technician’s. Representative’s what? Technician’s what? Are they going to bring their pets to do the install? You can see this at [www.cablesites.com/road\_runner/](http://www.cablesites.com/road_runner/) . ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2001, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704/75 "2001-01-11T22:22:39Z")
I just picked up a copy of the _Spectator_, the local free paper which carries Uncle Cecil’s column. The paper’s lead article, about the legal doctrine of Eminent Domain, had a big headline, **Imminent Domain** , which I thought was just a play on words. Then I noticed that all six times it was referenced in the text of the article–including twice when they were quoting someone–it was still referred to as “imminent” domain. I wonder how long it was after the issue went out before someone noticed the error. (The typos have all been corrected in the online version at: [http://www.spectatoronline.com/notebook\_feature.html](http://www.spectatoronline.com/notebook_feature.html)) ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2001, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704/76 "2001-01-12T05:18:36Z")
Just before I left the UK, _Private Eye_ had a doozy from a local newspaper from Suffolk. It was from a job advert for a secretarial position in the West Suffolk Conservative Association. Somehow the word “Conservative” got warped into “Cuntservative.” I almost hesitate to call that one a typo, because I find it hard to believe that mistake was accidental. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704/77 "2001-01-15T14:07:09Z")
There is a billboard advertising land that I pass every day. It says “Will build to suite.” I’m thinking of setting it on fire… ---
**Author:** ![SpinneZiege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@SpinneZiege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpinneZiege)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704/78 "2001-01-15T14:32:31Z")
In my local paper, during the Kosovo crisis, on of our Senators was misquoted, so it sounded pretty stupid: “The Siberians are a strong people. The Siberians will not give up without a fight!” Another time, they misspelled euthanasia horribly, leaving me thinking, “So why do these Asian kids want to commit suicide?” I’ve also noticed that of all things **The New York Times** has had a lot of typos recently. This is a sign of the end. ---
**Author:** ![SpinneZiege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@SpinneZiege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpinneZiege)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704/79 "2001-01-15T14:35:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JeffB \* > \*\*I just came across this one as I was looking for info about Road Runner service: > > > [@](#): > > > > Professional installation & personal service from experienced & friendly Road Runner customer service representative’s and technician’s. > > Representative’s what? Technician’s what? Are they going to bring their pets to do the install? You can see this at [www.cablesites.com/road\_runner/](http://www.cablesites.com/road_runner/) . > \*\* [Bob’s quick guide to the Apostrophe, you Idiots.](http://angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif) Found this last night. I think it applies to the present situation. ---
**Author:** ![Stellablue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@Stellablue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stellablue)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704/80 "2001-01-15T18:23:04Z")
In our local newspaper I read this in the classifieds. It was for a gun for sale but was printed this way, 357 Super Black Cock $350.00 FIRM Well, for $350.00 it better be FIRM! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-typos-in-print/46704.md?page=5)